Swain

Swain Build

the Noxian Grand General

Role: Support Pick Rate: 2.4% Win Rate: 49.71%

Recommended Build

Summoner Spells

Flash Flash
Ignite Ignite

Skill Priority

Q W E

Items

Start
World Atlas
Health Potion
Core
Zaz'Zak's Realmspike Zaz'Zak's Realmspike
Rylai's Crystal Scepter Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Sorcerer's Shoes Sorcerer's Shoes
Late
Zhonya's Hourglass
Spirit Visage

Runes

Most Played
Domination
Electrocute
Electrocute 47.1% · 49.2% WR
Cheap Shot
Cheap Shot 46.5% · 49.2% WR
Grisly Mementos
Grisly Mementos 39.8% · 48.7% WR
Ultimate Hunter
Ultimate Hunter 44.9% · 48.8% WR
Resolve
Overgrowth
Overgrowth 0.6% · 46.4% WR
Conditioning
Conditioning 0.6% · 45.3% WR
Adaptive Force
Adaptive Force
Adaptive Force
Adaptive Force
Health Scaling
Health Scaling
Best WR
Precision
Conqueror
Conqueror 36.8% · 49.8% WR
Presence of Mind
Presence of Mind 34.8% · 49.8% WR
Legend: Haste
Legend: Haste 36.1% · 49.7% WR
Last Stand
Last Stand 33.8% · 49.5% WR
Resolve
Conditioning
Conditioning 0.6% · 45.3% WR
Revitalize
Revitalize 0.6% · 52.8% WR
Ability Haste
Ability Haste
Health
Health

Skill Order

Q
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
W
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
E
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
R
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Win Rate by Elo

Iron Iron 44.40%
Bronze Bronze 48.92%
Silver Silver 49.27%
Gold Gold 49.39%
Platinum Platinum 49.38%
Emerald Emerald 49.19%
Diamond Diamond 49.50%
Master Master 51.86%
Grandmaster Grandmaster 56.07%
Challenger Challenger 64.71%
All Elos All Elos 49.48%

Best Counters and Matchups for Swain

See all counters for Swain

Top 5 Counters Against Swain

Zoe
43.6% WR -7.1%
Brand
45.6% WR -2.0%
Shaco
45.8% WR -3.5%
Zyra
46.3% WR -1.8%
Soraka
46.3% WR -1.1%

Top 5 Best Matchups for Swain

Ashe
60.5% WR +6.9%
Anivia
60.2% WR +10.1%
Mel
55.5% WR +0.2%
Alistar
54.2% WR +5.3%
Taric
53.6% WR +7.2%

Patch History

V14.18
  • Demonic Ascension Bug Fix: Healing is now properly reduced against Voidmites.
V14.2
  • Ravenous Flock Now displays the bonus health gained from Soul Fragments in the tooltip and passive icon.
V13.9
  • Death's Hand Base damage increased to 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145 from 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140. Bonus base damage per bolt increased to 15 / 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 from 12 / 22 / 32 / 42 / 52. Maximum base damage increased to 125 / 185 / 245 / 305 / 365 from 108 / 168 / 228 / 288 / 348. AP ratio increased to 40% AP from 38% AP. Bonus AP ratio per bolt increased to 10% AP from 8% AP. Maximum AP ratio increased to 80% AP from 70% AP.
V12.22
  • Stats Mana growth increased to 29 from 28.5.
V12.15
  • Nevermove Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where the recast could pull targets that were in stasis.
V12.14
  • General Bug Fix: Knocked up/stunned animation is now correctly played.
V12.11
  • Ravenous Flock Heal health reduced to Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)3 / 4 / 5 / 6% (based on level) of his maximum health from Damage mitigated by Master-At-Arms (R)3.5 / 4.5 / 5.5 / 7% (based on level).
  • Vision of Empire Base damage reduced to 80 / 115 / 150 / 185 / 220 from 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240. AP ratio reduced to 55% AP from 70% AP.
  • Demonic Ascension Base heal per second reduced to 15 / 27.5 / 40 from 15 / 30 / 45. Heal AP ratio reduced to 18% AP from 20% AP.
V12.10 - May 25th Hotfix
  • Demonic Ascension Bug Fix: Fixed a bug preventing him from properly ranking the spell.
V12.10
  • Stats Base health increased to 595 from 525. Health growth increased to 99 from 85. Armor growth increased to 5.2 from 4. Magic resistance growth increased to 1.3 from 0.5.
  • Ravenous Flock Heal health ratio reduced to Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)3.5 / 4.5 / 5.5 / 7% (based on level) of his maximum health from Damage mitigated by Master-At-Arms (R)4 / 5.5 / 7 / 9% (based on level).
  • Demonic Ascension New Effect: Champion takedowns now fully restore Demonic Energy. New Effect: Now automatically casts Demonflare when Demonic Ascension expires. This will not occur if Demonic Ascension ends due to Swain's death. Base heal per second reduced to 15 / 30 / 45 from 15 / 40 / 65. Heal AP ratio per second reduced to 20% AP from 25% AP.
V12.9
  • General Bug Fix: Ability descriptions in the "Champion Details" page of the client have now been updated.
  • Nevermove Bug Fix: Tooltip now properly mentions that struck champions are revealed. New Effect: Recast can now cast during other cast times instead of having to wait them out via buffering. No longer breaks channels if it can be cast during them, with the standard exception of Recall. Bug Fix: Can no longer be recast if all champions had removed the root.
V12.8 - April 27th Hotfix
  • Stats Base armor increased to 26 from 23. Base movement speed increased to 330 from 325.
V12.8 - Gameplay Update
  • Ravenous Flock Removed Innate - Ravenous: Swain can periodically target a nearby immobilized enemy champion to rip out a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment from them, dealing Damage mitigated by Master-At-Arms (R)20 − 105 (based on level) (+ 30% AP) Damage mitigated with Shifting Sands (E)magic damage and pulling them 290-units towards him over a 0.25-second cast time. If the target would be brought past Swain, they are instead knocked back the excess distance. Swain cannot use Ravenous while unable to cast abilities. Heal increased to Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)4 / 5.5 / 7 / 9% (based on level) of his maximum health from Damage mitigated by Master-At-Arms (R)4 / 5.5 / 7% (based on level). Bonus health per Soul Fragment increased to 12 from 5.
  • Death's Hand Cooldown reduced to 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 seconds from 9 / 7.5 / 6 / 4.5 / 3. Mana cost reduced to 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 from 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85. Base damage increased to 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 from 55 / 75 / 95 / 115 / 135. AP ratio reduced to 38% AP from 40% AP. Bonus bolt damage changed to 12 / 22 / 32 / 42 / 52 (+ 8% AP) from 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% of bolt's damage. Maximum base damage increased to 108 / 168 / 228 / 288 / 348 from 88 / 147 / 206 / 265 / 324. Maximum AP ratio changed to 70% AP at all ranks from 64 / 72 / 80 / 88 / 96% AP.
  • Vision of Empire Mana cost reduced to 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 from 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110. New Effect: Pinging the ability now displays all visible enemies within range in chat.
  • Nevermove New Effect: Can now be recast to pull all champions rooted by it, gaining a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment for each target pulled. If the targets would be brought past Swain, they are instead knocked back the excess distance. If the root is not applied to or is removed from all targets, the recast does not become available. New Effect: Now grants vision of all rooted targets. New Effect: Cooldown is now reduced by 20% during Demonic Ascension.
  • Demonic Ascension New Effect: Upon casting, Swain generates 50 Demonic Energy. Demonic Ascension lasts as long as Swain has Demonic Energy, decaying by 5 every 0.5 seconds, increased to 7.5 after 5 seconds have elapsed. Swain generates 10 Demonic Energy every 0.5 seconds while draining from at least one enemy champion, up to 50. After 2 seconds, he can recast to use Demonflare. Previous duration: 12 seconds. Recast timer increased to 2 seconds from 0.5 seconds. New Effect: Casting Demonflare no longer ends Demonic Ascension's effects early. Removed: No longer grants Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)125 / 200 / 275 bonus health. Removed: No longer doubles the health gained from Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragments. Cooldown reduced to 100 / 80 / 60 seconds from 120 at all ranks. Base damage per second reduced to 20 / 40 / 60 from 35 / 50 / 65. Damage AP ratio per second reduced to 10% AP from 14.167% AP. Base heal per second changed to 15 / 40 / 65 from 20 / 35 / 50. Heal AP ratio per second increased to 25% AP from 16% AP.
  • Demonflare Base damage increased to 150 / 225 / 300 from 100 / 150 / 200. AP ratio increased to 60% AP from 50% AP. New Effect: Now slows enemies by 60%, decaying over 1.5 seconds. New Effect: Can now be cast once during Demonic Ascension without ending the duration prematurely. Removed: Damage is no longer increased by 37.5% of the health drained during Demonic Ascension, up to a total damage of 200 / 300 / 400 (+ 100% AP).
V11.24
  • Original Swain Bug Fix: Model scale returned to proper size.
  • Crystal Rose Swain Bug Fix: Model scale returned to proper size.
V11.22
  • Original Swain Undocumented: Model scale reduced by 10.81%.(bug)
  • Crystal Rose Swain Undocumented: Model scale reduced by 10.81%.(bug)
V11.11
  • Tyrant Swain Bug Fix: Hitting him triggers more metallic sounds.
  • Crystal Rose Swain Demonflare Bug Fix: Fixed an SFX bug where if he used it and started draining a target's soul, the target would not hear the stereo whisper SFX or the soul drain start SFX.
V11.1
  • Stats Base armor increased to 23 from 22.72.
V10.15
  • Stats Base movement speed reduced to 325 from 335.
  • Ravenous Flock Cooldown changed to 10 seconds at all levels from 12 / 9 / 6 (based on level). New Effect: Cooldown is now affected by cooldown reduction. Removed: No longer restores Champions hit by Piltover Peacemakers (Q) at greater than 75% of max range4 / 5.5 / 7% (based on level) maximum mana. Bug Fix: Now requires the target to be immobilized by an enemy source. Can no longer pull enemies launched by Blast Cones triggered by themselves or their teammates. Undocumented: Can no longer pull other enemies affected by self-CC or CC from their allies.
  • Death's Hand Cooldown reduced to 9 / 7.5 / 6 / 4.5 / 3 seconds from 10 / 8.5 / 7 / 5.5 / 4. Angle between bolts reduced to 8 from 10. New Effect: Bolts can now pierce through champions.
  • Vision of Empire Range increased to 5500 / 6000 / 6500 / 7000 / 7500 units from 3500 at all ranks. Base damage reduced to 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 from 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300. Mana cost reduced to 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 from 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130.
  • Nevermove Cooldown changed to 10 seconds at all ranks from 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9. Mana cost reduced to 50 at all ranks from 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80.
V10.12
  • Demonic Ascension Bug Fix: Tooltip in the collection tab has been updated to accurately reflect its latest state.
V10.8
  • Demonflare Indicator added to show recast ability timer.
V10.6
  • General Recommended items updated.
V10.3
  • Demonflare Bug Fix: Tooltip now displays the correct amount of health drained.
V9.15
  • Death's Hand Target range increased to 725 from 625.
V9.14
  • Stats Health growth reduced to 85 from 90. Base attack range reduced to 525 from 550.
  • Ravenous Flock Removed: No longer stores up to 5 Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragments to empower Demonflare. New Effect: Now permanently stores Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragments, increasing his Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)maximum health by 5 for each Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment collected. New Effect: Collecting a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment now restores Champions hit by Piltover Peacemakers (Q) at greater than 75% of max range4 / 5.5 / 7% (based on level) of his maximum mana.
  • Death's Hand Removed: No longer restores Champions hit by Piltover Peacemakers (Q) at greater than 75% of max range3% maximum mana upon killing a unit. New Effect: Bolts now always pierce through minions and stop on impact with champions. Cooldown increased to 10 / 8.5 / 7 / 5.5 / 4 seconds from 7.5 / 6.25 / 5 / 3.75 / 2.5. Effect radius reduced to 625 units from 725. Angle between bolts increased to 10 from 8.
  • Demonic Ascension New Effect: Now has a mana cost of 100. Bonus health reduced to 125 / 200 / 275 from 150 / 275 / 400. New Effect: Now doubles the health gained from Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragments for the duration. Minion and monster healing reduction increased to 90% from 80%. New Effect: Now drains all targets within the radius, including stealthed units. Removed: No longer has a healing threshold of Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)125 / 300 / 450 (based on level) health to cast Demonflare. New Effect: Can now cast Demonflare after draining any amount of health.
  • Demonflare Removed: No longer deals 45 / 60 / 75 (+ 21% AP) magic damage per Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment up to a maximum of 225 / 300 / 375 (+ 105% AP). New Effect: Now deals 100 / 150 / 200 (+ 50% AP) magic damage plus 37.5% of the amount of health drained during Demonic Ascension, up to a cap of 200 / 300 / 400 (+ 100% AP).
V8.24
  • Dragon Master Swain Bug Fix: Skin-specific VO has been restored.
V8.14
  • Demonflare AP ratio per fragment reduced to 21% AP from 27% AP. Maximum AP ratio reduced to 105% AP from 135% AP.
V8.10
  • Nevermove Bug Fix: No longer incorrectly deals double damage to epic monsters.
V8.9
  • Stats Base mana increased to 468 from 374. Mana growth reduced to 28.5 from 57. Base mana regeneration increased to 8 from 6.
V8.8
  • Nevermove Bug Fix: Now only gives one stack for Phase Rush purposes.
V8.7
  • Ravenous Flock Icon can now be pinged to show allies the remaining cooldown on the pull.
  • Death's Hand Cooldown increased to 7.5 / 6.25 / 5 / 3.75 / 2.5 seconds from 5.5 / 4.75 / 4 / 3.25 / 2.5. Base damage reduced to 55 / 75 / 95 / 115 / 135 from 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145.
V8.6
  • Tyrant Swain Bug Fix: No longer plays his base VO lines after killing an objective.
V8.5
  • Death's Hand Cooldown reduced to 5.5 / 4.75 / 4 / 3.25 / 2.5 seconds from 7.5 / 6.25 / 5 / 3.75 / 2.5.
  • Vision of Empire Effect radius increased to 325 from 265.
  • Nevermove Radius increased to 100 from 70. Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where Nevermove was starting its return a frame too slowly. Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where Nevermove would sometimes not root its primary target hit by the return portion.
  • Demonic Ascension New Effect: Demon Flare now passes through champions. Effects like Yasuo's Wind Wall and Braum's Unbreakable still block the portion of the nova they intercept. Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where his ultimate cooldown indicator was displaying as always available to his allies.
V8.4
  • Vision of Empire Mana cost reduced to 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 from 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 / 130.
  • Demonic Ascension Heal per second increased to 20 / 35 / 50 from 15 / 30 / 45. New Effect: Cooldown and Soul fragments are fully refunded if Swain dies during the channel time of Demonic Ascension. Bug Fix: The Ultimate Hat now properly reduces Demonic Ascension's cooldown. Health restored require to cast Demonflare reduced to 125 / 300 / 450 (based on level) from 150 / 300 / 450 (based on level). Area of effect starts slightly more in the direction of Swain's movement at high movement speeds. Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where he could remain in Demonic Ascension when affected by Lulu's Whimsy.
V8.3 - Relaunch
  • General Title changed to the Noxian Grand General from the Master Tactician. Complete visual upgrade across all skins. New splash artwork for Original Swain, Northern Front Swain, Bilgewater Swain, and Tyrant Swain. New voice over. New lore.
  • Stats Base attack damage increased to 58 from 52.04. Base health reduced to 525 from 528. Base health regeneration reduced to 7 from 7.842. Attack damage growth reduced to 2.7 from 3. Health growth reduced to 90 from 102. Mana growth increased to 57 from 47. Base attack range increased to 550 from 500..
  • Ravenous Flock (Innate) Ravenous: Swain can periodically target a nearby immobilized enemy champion to rip out a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment from them, dealing 20 − 105 (based on level) (+ 30% AP) magic damage and pulling them X-units towards him. Flock: Enemy champion takedowns leave a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment behind. Swain restores Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)4% / 5.5% / 7% (based on level) maximum health whenever he collects a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment, and can store up to 5 at once. Static Cooldown: 12 / 9 / 6 (based on level) seconds.
  • Death's Hand (Q) Active: Swain unleashes five bolts of eldritch power in the target direction, dealing 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145 (+ 40% AP) magic damage to the first enemies they hit. Enemies can intercept multiple bolts, taking 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% bonus damage per additional bolt. Bolts that kill their targets continue onward and restore Champions hit by Piltover Peacemakers (Q) at greater than 75% of max range3% maximum mana. This can repeat indefinitely until the bolts reach their maximum distance. Mana Cost: 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85. Cooldown: 7.5 / 6.25 / 5 / 3.75 / 2.5 seconds.
  • Vision of Empire (W) Active: Swain summons a demonic eye at the target area that reveals it for 2 seconds before exploding, dealing 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+ 70% AP) magic damage to all enemies hit, halved against non-champions, and slowing them by 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65% for 2.5 seconds. Enemy champions are revealed for 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 seconds and each grant Swain a Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragment. Mana Cost: 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 / 130. Cooldown: 22 / 21 / 20 / 19 / 18 seconds.
  • Nevermove (E) Active: Swain launches a demonic wave in the target direction, dealing 35 / 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 (+ 25% AP) magic damage to enemies it passes through. Upon reaching its maximum distance, the wave returns to Swain, detonating at the first enemy hit, dealing 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 / 75 (+ 25% AP) magic damage to all nearby enemies and rooting them for 1.5 seconds. Mana Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80. Cooldown: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 seconds.
  • Demonic Ascension (R) Active: Swain frees the demon within for 12 seconds, gaining 150 / 275 / 400 bonus health. While Demonic Ascension is active, Swain drains the 3 enemies closest to him, prioritizing champions, dealing 35 / 50 / 65 (+ 14.167% AP) magic damage to them each second, and healing himself for 15 / 30 / 45 (+ 16% AP) health for each enemy hit, reduced by 80% against minions and monsters. After restoring Champions killed with Comeuppance (R)150 / 300 / 450 (based on level) health with Demonic Ascension, Swain can end its effects early to cast Demonflare, and automatically does so at the end of its duration. Demonflare: Swain consumes all of his Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragments, dealing 45 / 60 / 75 (+ 27% AP) magic damage per fragment to all nearby enemies based on their number. Second Cast Cost: All Rend (E) stacks transferred to champions with Pierce (Q)Soul Fragments. Cooldown: 120 seconds.

Recommended build

What players actually run on Swain on the current patch: summoner spells, skill priority, starting, core and late items, runes and skill order.

Every entry comes with its pick rate (how often it is chosen) and, where available, its win rate. For runes, Most Played is the page the majority takes and Best WR the variant that wins most among those with enough games: when they differ, the second is usually the sharper choice, the first the safer one.

Win rate by elo

Swain's win rate in each rank tier, from Iron to Challenger, plus all tiers combined.

A champion that climbs with rank is usually one that rewards mechanics or game knowledge; one that peaks in low elo is often easy to pick up and punished by better players. Read the tier you play in, not the average. Tiers with no data for this patch are hidden.

Counters and matchups

A preview of the counters page: the five opponents Swain struggles against the most, and the five it beats most often, on the current patch.

Percentages are Swain's own win rate in each duel, with the gap to its overall win rate. The full lists, with every matchup that has enough games, are on the counters page linked below each table.

Patch history

Balance changes that touched Swain, patch by patch, most recent first, as published in the official patch notes.

The ten latest patches are shown, the older ones fold out. Use it to read the win rate movements above: a jump right after a patch is usually a buff or a nerf, not a change in how people play the champion.